As we celebrate the completion of two major and very impactful visitor access projects, and the good weather starts to make regular appearances, I see smiles in this community. Big smiles. Smiles when I say that the River ‘S’ Bridge is almost done, and people can soon return to their beloved auto tour route months sooner than projected (March 2nd!). Smiles walking by my office window on the new Main Street sidewalk leading from town to the Carty Unit. Smiles when I say that May will see the rest of the seasonal trails open and provide access to a 4.8 mile walk through town and the Refuge. Smiles from brand new visitors that had no idea what they might find when they followed those brown signs, and cannot wait to participate in Ridgefield First Saturdays and Cathlapotle Plankhouse Second Sundays. While an early spring worries the biologist in me, I know that a rush of visitors happy to be outside and eager to participate is always good for a community, and for the future of places like this. All of these smiles got me wondering about the history of this refuge and what visitors looked forward to those 54 years ago. I turned to the detailed records from the 60s and 70s, running through old typewriting on thin carbon paper, summarizing the years’ work. I sure got a taste of where we came from.
In 1966 news of this Refuge seemed to have spread quickly, with people starting to visit
right away. However, when people arrived in those first years they did not find an auto tour route, or even maintained trails. There were no parking lots and certainly no pedestrian bridges to get them over the railroad tracks. Those early details are vague on exactly how and where visitors went, but it is clear that the larger community of Clark County was excited to find out what this place was all about. Schools started visiting, creating a small education program almost immediately. The then brand new Laurin Middle School in Battle Ground, and Clark Community College in Vancouver, were the first schools to get students involved. In 1969, a six-car parking lot was created on the Carty Unit on the west side of the tracks, but just like now, it was not a controlled crossing and safety of visitors was of great concern. School buses would drop students off to be escorted across the tracks by foot, even on the River ‘S’ Unit, in case the bus got stuck on
the very rugged tracks. Students then reloaded on the other side of the bridge. Where did they go from there and what did they do? That remains a mystery to me. Then, in 1970, students, scouts, and volunteers started to brush out trails on the Carty Unit- making official the system that we now know as the Oak- to-Wetlands Trail. The very same trail that is making history again, with its redesign fueled by volunteers after the Oak Release Restoration Project.
Reading these narratives, even just those first 5 years of this place as a National Wildlife Refuge, made me feel even more connected with this community as I understood how far we have come, and what passion and intention we were born out of. Very real to me now are those early employees imagining what this place could be, and working to get the word spread about this new recreational opportunity, thinking about barriers to visitation and working to get students excited about nature. The first Refuge manager who started
operations in his kitchen meeting with our first supporters over coffee, mentions the “potentially thousands” that may benefit from exploring nature here. Well yes sir, thousands would indeed. Many tens and hundreds of thousands of people would, and continue to, enjoy your hard work. And we now, in 2020, continue to make access safe, enjoyable, and educational. I wonder, if those early employees ever even imagined the community and nature center that is to be the next dream that we make a reality for visitors here, at this 54-year-old Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.
“I have great respect for the past.
If you don’t know where you’ve come from,
you don’t know where you’re going.”
Maya Angelou
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